Scott Snyder and Scott Tuft keep twisting the knife of this story. I keep waiting for it to stutter, sputter, or snooze. Tuft, Snyder, and artist Attila Futaki will have none of that, and continue to offer up ways to disturb their readers.

Jack Garron and “The Salesman” (a psychopath who has killed at least as many people as this series has issues, assuming their identities to further his own twisted agenda) continue their travels down South to get Jack reunited with his long-lost father. As it so happens, Jack is also going to be able to record his music, all thanks to the alleged Mr. Fisher, the most recent identity snatched from the deceased.

Leaving a painful past that includes the alleged betrayal by his one and only friend, Jack has poured everything he has left into finding his father and recording music. That desperation makes Jack’s road trip with Fisher all the more haunting.

Along the way, Tuft and Snyder throw in a few surprises. Those surprises deepen the mystery around Fisher and make him a much more complex character than has been shown to this point. That’s not to say that he becomes a nicer character or that this story becomes any less creepy. Quite the contrary.

Futaki’s art is just as disturbing and, more often than not, simply grotesque. Filled with details and packed with texture, Futaki doesn’t hesitate to add wrinkles to a face, woodgrain to a shed, or gore to a scalped man. There are some spectacular framing choices, such as the decision to square off Fisher’s mouth following his bloody encounter with a man who makes the poor choice of harassing young Jack Garron. Futaki tends to deliver cartoony ancillary characters that don’t seem to match up to the bulk of this story, but things are solid throughout, for the most part.

This issue beefs up the suspense of this story. Jack makes a discovery that seems like it is going to tip the balance of the story in such a manner that the entire world around Jack will come crashing down. With two issues left, there is no doubt that there’s a whole lot more surprises, suspense, and gore to yet to come.